Big and Empty

Gallery: LandscapePosted September 12, 2012179 views7 comments

I took this from the highest point in the area. The top of the Big Horn mountains is a patchwork of alpine meadows and stream cut ravines...blocks of sandstone and limestone from ancient seas and the dry grasses of late summer. The granite peaks and talus slopes typical of mountain scenes are far to the north, here. My view is high, dry, big, and empty but I find it strangely beautiful. Suggestions on how to better portray this area would be greatly appreciated. (the haze is smoke...an unavoidable component of every landscape I've tried to capture this summer) Thanks for looking.

Canon T1i
1/200sec f/16 300mm

Comments

7 comments

Comment posted by Philip Hodgkins on September 12, 2012 at 11:08 AM

If possible, an earlier hour might bring out the hues more. Ditto a CPL. I would try different lens combinations; it looks like the 300 has almost limited you to a vertical, trying to capture the various layers.

Registered on July 24, 2006, 2741 Posts, 12349 Comments

Comment posted by Peter Richter on September 12, 2012 at 11:46 AM

Nancy, I do like the plainness of your composition regarding the midground and depth of the image. A very interesting transition of colors and interplay of layers to my eye.

I just think of cropping the foreground elements. That would make for an almost abstract character and might strenghten the expression of this image in my opinion.

Peter

Registered on November 10, 2010, 218 Posts, 2723 Comments

Comment posted by Eirini Pajak on September 12, 2012 at 1:26 PM

This does look like a very barren place! The good thing about using the 300 would be that it would compress all the layers together as you did here...it reminds me of one of those frames filled with all different colored sand layers. Without the foreground I also don't think it would be as interesting, but I am not a landscape expert!

Registered on December 13, 2011, 216 Posts, 1671 Comments

Comment posted by Morris McClung on September 12, 2012 at 2:26 PM

I like the telecomp and the color. I think you included just enough foreground to add depth.

Registered on May 7, 2007, 670 Posts, 19650 Comments

Comment posted by John&Patty Benway on September 12, 2012 at 3:38 PM

I like this very much Nancy, I think the FG adds to it, The only little distraction for me is the tree top, bottom right,.easy fix. Beautifully done.
John

Registered on May 12, 2006, 626 Posts, 8700 Comments

Comment posted by Marsel van Oosten on September 12, 2012 at 4:58 PM

Nancy - these wide shots from high vantage points are hard to pull off because the scenes tend to look distant and flat. The best way to prevent this from happening is to use a powerful foreground, and imho the foreground here is a bit too far away. I'd probably have moved a bit lower and closer to the tree to make it more dominant in the frame. I'd also remove the purple cast near the horizon. Hope that makes sense.

Registered on March 9, 2004, 285 Posts, 2277 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Seaver on September 12, 2012 at 5:40 PM

I like all the layers and the variety of golds. The dead tree and slope in the llc work well. I think this works well at portraying the long view. Depending on the sun angle, a polarizer might increase the saturation and reduce the blues in the distance. A lower pov would compress the flat area in the mid-ground, which should create a stronger layered effect.

Registered on January 23, 2011, 1103 Posts, 17270 Comments